Invoiceless trading and settlement method and system

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems consistent with the present invention overcome the shortcomings of existing trading systems by providing an invoiceless trading system that creates incentives for customers to pay suppliers within a predetermined period of time, such as a settlement period. Specifically, the invoiceless trading system enables a customer to obtain a discount on orders placed with suppliers in return for an immediate payment (e.g., within 24 hours) by the customer. The supplier receives payment within the predetermined period of time, and the customer receives additional cash benefits by providing an early payment to the supplier. To communicate with and transfer funds between customers and suppliers, the invoiceless trading system may use an electronic gateway and a settlement bank. In addition to creating an incentive to embrace e-commerce, both customers and suppliers avoid the need to manually process orders and use invoices to complete transactions.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/184,987, filed Feb. 20, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,762,273, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/030,141, filed Feb.12, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,660,947, which is a Continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/653,306, filed Jan. 16, 2007, now U.S.Pat. No. 7,716,130, which is a divisional of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/561,990, filed May 2, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,266,525,which claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(a) to Australian PatentApplication No. PQ0102, filed May 3, 1999, each of which areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to data processing systems, and moreparticularly, to electronic trading and settlement systems.

B. Description of the Related Art

Conventional trading and settlement systems generally involve largecorporate customers, commercial suppliers, and large financialinstitutions (e.g., settlement banks). These systems trade using largeamounts of paper. That is, conventional trading and settlement systemscreate“paper trails” that serve to lengthen a business transaction fromthe initial order to the final payment.

For example, a customer may place an order (e.g., a purchase order) witha supplier. Once the supplier receives the order, the supplier creates apacking slip, and ships the order to the customer. With the shipment ofthe order, the supplier includes an invoice for the order. The invoicegenerally requires payment within a standard time period set by thesupplier (e.g., 30 days). In practice, however, many customers may takeup to 60 days to settle their outstanding accounts with suppliers. Thus,it may take over two months from the time a customer places an order andit is shipped to the time the supplier receives a payment. Aside fromthe reduced cash flow and/or credit risk born by the supplier beforereceipt of payment, the customer must process (either manually orelectronically) each invoice and account with the supplier.

In response to the inherent problems with conventional trading andsettlement systems, more and more suppliers and/or customers areswitching to the Internet, and trading and settling “online.” That is,systems such as supply side trading systems that use normal tradingterms (e.g., remit payment 30 days) offered by business solution firms,such as ORACLE, COMMERCE ONE, or ARIBA.

Although these electronic trading and settlement systems create anelectronic marketplace that enables both customers and suppliers totrade online, the trading system does so at a high price. That is,unless all parties (e.g., customers, suppliers, settlement banks) are“wired,” the benefits of electronic trading and settling is notrealized. In other words, it may be that the customer has built a largeinfrastructure capable of complete automated ordering, however, unlessthe supplier has reciprocal functionality, the customer must resort tomore conventional ordering (e.g., paper purchase orders) to engage thesupplier. Although the benefits are obvious, nevertheless, bothcustomers and suppliers have been slow to adopt electronic trading andsettling. Thus, there is a need to for a system that encourages bothsuppliers and customers to adopt electronic trading and settlementcapabilities.

Therefore, there exists a need to improve existing trading andsettlement systems by enabling electronic invoiceless trading andsettlement systems that provide incentives for both customers andsuppliers to trade and settle electronically. Such a system should notonly offer a tangible incentive to both customers and suppliers, butalso it should place little to no risk on the settlement bank.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Methods and systems consistent with the present invention overcome theshortcomings of existing trading systems by providing an invoicelesstrading system that creates incentives for customers to pay supplierswithin a predetermined period of time, such as a settlement period.Specifically, the invoiceless trading system enables a customer toobtain a discount on orders placed with suppliers in return for animmediate payment (e.g., within 24 hours) by the customer. The supplierreceives payment within the predetermined period of time, and thecustomer receives additional cash benefits by providing an early paymentto the supplier. To communicate with and transfer funds betweencustomers and suppliers, the invoiceless trading system may use anelectronic gateway and a settlement bank. In addition to creating anincentive to embrace e-commerce, both customers and suppliers avoid theneed to manually process orders and use invoices to completetransactions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate an implementation of theinvention and, together with the description, serve to explain theadvantages and principles of the invention. In the drawings,

FIG. 1A depicts an invoiceless trading system suitable for practicingmethods and systems consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 1B depicts another embodiment of an invoiceless trading systemsuitable for practicing methods and systems consistent with the presentinvention.

FIG. 2A depicts a more detailed diagram of the customer computerdepicted in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2B depicts a more detailed diagram of the supplier computerdepicted in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 depicts a more detailed diagram of the settlement bank serverdepicted in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 depicts a flow chart of the steps performed by the invoicelesstrading system consistent with the principles of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description of the invention refers to theaccompanying drawings. Although the description includes exemplaryimplementations, other implementations are possible, and changes may bemade to the implementations described without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention. The following detailed description does notlimit the invention. Instead, the scope of the invention is defined bythe appended claims. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers willbe used throughout the drawings and the following description to referto the same or like parts.

Overview

Methods and systems consistent with the present invention provide aninvoiceless trading system that provides incentives for customers to paysuppliers within a predetermined period of time, such as a settlementperiod. The customer and supplier prenegotiate an incentive amount toapply to each order. The invoiceless trading system draws an amountequivalent to the full face value of an order placed by the customer andfilled by the supplier from a bank account associated with the customer.Periodically, the trading system rebates to the customer theprenegotiated amount. Such methods and systems provide discounts as anincentive to the customer so that the customer pays the supplier withina predetermined settlement period (e.g., one day).

The invoiceless trading and settlement system comprises a number ofcomponents, such as a customer bank, a settlement bank, a supplier bank,and an electronic gateway connecting a customer and a supplier.

A customer (e.g., corporation or governmental entity) places an orderusing an electronic gateway to purchase products from a supplier.Products are broadly defined as commodities, services, physical objectsor goods, or any other item a supplier might sell to a customer. Anorder may be an electronic message delivered in any well-known financialcommunications format, such as HTTP, FTP, EDI, SMTP.

A supplier offers products to a plurality of customers. To entice thecustomer to promptly pay within a settlement date, the supplier offersan incentive to the customer, such as discounts, bonuses, prizes, andthe like. To ensure accuracy of an order, the supplier immediatelytransmits an electronic message to the customer using the electronicgateway. A supplier may fill customer orders by any traditional means.For example, the supplier may “scan-pack” (described below). In additionto scan-packing, the supplier may transmit an electronic confirmationmessage (e.g., Advanced Shipping Notice, ASN) to the customer using theelectronic gateway. The ASN is further described below.

A settlement bank, such as a corporate bank or any similar financialinstitution, pays the supplier at a time agreed in advance between thecustomer and the supplier. Once a customer transmits an authorization tothe settlement bank to pay the supplier through the electronic gateway,the settlement bank lodges cleared funds for a specified amount (e.g., adiscounted amount) in a supplier's bank. Cleared funds may be obtainedfrom a customer's bank as a loan to the customer, withdrawal from acustomer's deposit account, or the like.

An electronic gateway may be an independent entity or specific to thetype of products being bought and sold. For example, in the case of aprivate network, an electronic gateway may include an administrator thatexchanges, logs and translates messages between subscribing customersand subscribing suppliers. In the case of an open network, theelectronic gateway may be the Internet. To provide security in an opennetwork, a firewall or VPN may be used when connecting the customer,supplier, their respective banks, and the settlement bank. In addition,the electronic gateway may include translation, logging, and forwardingservices to ensure the accuracy of all orders, payments, and notices. Anexample of an electronic gateway suitable for practicing methods andsystems consistent with the present invention is the AT&T INTERCOMMERCEgateway, available from AT&T.

Invoiceless trading systems provide a number of benefits overtraditional trading and settlement systems. First, invoiceless tradingsystems provide both customers and suppliers a tangible incentive toembrace e-commerce. Customers can generate additional profits byreceiving a cash benefit for improving the cashflow to the supplier byauthorizing the settlement bank to transfer an early payment to asupplier's bank accounts. The supplier may receive payment of anoutstanding customer account within a short period, such as one businessday of the settlement bank receiving instructions from the customer tosettle the account.

Second, invoiceless trading systems significantly reduce the costassociated with supply chain trading for both customer and suppliers. Byusing an electronic gateway, not only does a supplier not have toproduce invoices, followup on outstanding accounts, or process payments,but also the supplier can almost instantly receive funds since thesettlement bank directly deposits the funds into the supplier's bank.Moreover, remittance advice can automatically be lodged into thesupplier's accounting software. Customers may have access to electroniccatalogs located on a supplier's system, and the customer may alsoreceive automated and immediate confirmation of shipment.

Finally, the invoiceless trading system creates additional profits forboth suppliers and customers. That is, the customer's balance sheet isused to generate additional profits for the customer through supplierdiscounts. It is the strength of the customer's balance sheet thatenables suppliers to receive immediate payment and therefore have theincentive to use the invoiceless trading system. The customer's balancesheet is not adversely affected by paying its suppliers early asborrowed funds are used to discharge trade creditors, thus canceling outthe additional liability of the borrowing. Thus, the balance sheetimproves marginally as the net borrowing is less than the face value ofthe trade creditors discharged.

Moreover, the invoiceless trading system creates additional profits forthe customer by providing a rebate from the settlement bank. Since thecustomer is generally a larger and stronger party than the supplier, thecustomer has a lower cost of funds. Thus, the difference between thecost and availability of funds to the customer and supplier largelydetermine the size of the supplier incentive (discount), and thereforethe size of the rebate from the settlement bank. As part of theirincentive from the supplier, the customer receives a rebate from thesettlement bank based on the strength of the customer's balance sheetand credit rating.

System Components

FIG. 1A depicts an exemplary invoiceless trading system 100 suitable forpracticing methods and systems consistent with the present invention.Invoiceless trading system 100 comprises a customer computer 102, asupplier computer 104, and a settlement bank server 106, all connectedvia an electronic gateway 120, such as the Internet. Also included ininvoiceless trading system 100 are a customer bank computer 108 and asupplier bank computer 110. Bank computers 108, 110 may be directlyconnected to bank server 106, directly connected to customer 102 andsupplier 104, or connected to both through electronic gateway 120. Acustomer may use customer computer 102 to place an order with a supplierfor products. A supplier may use supplier computer 104 to receive andprocess orders and electronically transmit shipping notices to acustomer computer 102. Although only one customer computer 102, andsupplier computer 104 are depicted in system 100, one skilled in the artwill appreciate that many more customers' and/or suppliers' computersmay be connected into system 100.

FIG. 1B depicts another exemplary invoiceless trading system 150 forpracticing methods and systems consistent with the present invention.Invoiceless trading system 150 comprises customer computer 102, suppliercomputer 104, a settlement bank 112, and a funds provider 114. In system150, customer 102 may obtain an early payment discount for an order fromsupplier 104 by paying the supplier by a funds provider 114 via asettlement bank 112. In one embodiment, customer 102 may establish asettlement bank agreement with settlement bank 112 for settling ordersplaced by customer 102 by paying suppliers using funds provided by thefunds provider 114. Customer 102 may also establish a funding agreementwith funds provider 114, including, for example, a service fee and arate of interest to be paid by customer 102 to funds provider 114. Whencustomer 102 transmits an order message to supplier 104 with an orderfor an item, the customer 102 may then receive a shipping notificationfrom supplier 104 indicating that the order has been filled. After theshipping notification is received by customer 102 from supplier 104,customer 102 may transmit a payment message to settlement bank 112 tomake a discounted payment to supplier 104 for the order on a first dateusing funds from funds provider 114. In one example, the discountedpayment may be equal to a cost for the order less an early paymentdiscount agreed upon between customer 102 and supplier 104 based onsupplier 104 receiving payments for the order with a predeterminedperiod of time. After the first date, customer 102 may pay a negotiatedpayment, e.g., equal to the discounted payment plus the service fee andan interest amount, to funds provider 114. For example, the interestrate may be calculated based on a time period between the first date andthe date on which the customer pays funds provider 114.

FIG. 2A depicts a more detailed diagram of customer computer 102, whichcontains a memory 210, a secondary storage device 220, a centralprocessing unit (CPU) 230, an input device 240, and a video display 250.Memory 210 includes browser 212 that allows customers to interact withcomputer 104 and banks 106, 108 by transmitting and receiving files,such as Web pages. A Web page may include images or textual informationto provide an interface to receive requests for products from a userusing hypertext markup language (HTML), Java or other techniques.Examples of browsers suitable for use with methods and systemsconsistent with the present invention are the Netscape Navigatorbrowser, from Netscape Communications Corp., and the Internet Explorerbrowser, from Microsoft Corp.

As shown in FIG. 2B, supplier computer 104 includes a memory 260, asecondary storage device 270, a CPU 280, an input device 290, and avideo display 292. Memory 260 includes accounting software 262 thatprocesses received orders and creates ASNs for the customer. An ASN is amessage sent to a customer upon shipment of goods. In addition,accounting software 262 contains a user interface (not shown) tocommunicate with computer 102 and bank servers 106, 110. The userinterface may be a Web page, Application Program Interface (API), e-mailprogram, or other input interface. An API is a set of routines,protocols, or tools for communicating with software applications. APIsprovide efficient access to accounting software 262 without the need foradditional software to interface with the software. Web software, suchas the APACHE Web software, or e-mail program, such as the Sendmaile-mail software, may also be included as a user interface to transmitand receive information. Secondary storage device 270 contains adatabase 272 that contains information relating to accounts receivablesand accounts payables.

As shown in FIG. 3, settlement bank server 106 includes a memory 310, asecondary storage device 320, a CPU 330, an input device 340, and avideo display 350. Memory 310 includes settlement software 312 and abanking interface 314. Settlement software 312 dispatches funds to anaccount associated with the supplier in supplier bank 110 and debitsfunds from an account associated with the customer in customer bank 108.Settlement software 312 may communicate with computers 102, 104 andbanks 108, 110 using banking interface 314. A banking interface is apayment gateway for a bank.

Invoiceless Trading Process

FIG. 4 depicts a flow chart of the steps performed by invoicelesstrading system 100 when providing invoiceless trading among customersand suppliers. The first step is for a customer using customer computer102 to transmit an order to a supplier computer 104 through electronicgateway 120 (step 402). As explained earlier, electronic gateway 120 maytranslate the customer's order to a format understandable by suppliercomputer 104 and forward the order to accounting software 262 insupplier computer 104. For example, a supplier may use a Web interfaceand/or email to provide access to accounting software 262, however thecustomer may not have email or Web capability and, instead, may haveonly facsimile capability. The customer may fax a purchase order to afacsimile server (not shown) in electronic gateway 120. Gateway 120 thenconverts the facsimile to an e-mail and forwards the e-mail to suppliercomputer 104. Electronic gateway 120 may also maintain a log of allorders placed by the customer in a centralized database for accountingand/or auditing purposes.

If a customer's order contains multiple products from multiplesuppliers, (e.g., product A from one supplier, and product B fromanother supplier), then electronic gateway 120 may create and forwardorder messages containing appropriate products for each supplier 104.

Next, supplier computer 104 processes the order and transmits a responseto customer computer 102 including the status of the order (step 404).The supplier may first send a confirmation message to customer computer102 indicating that the order can be filled (e.g., the supplier has theproduct in stock). The supplier may process the order using a“scan-packing” technique. Scan-packing means first determining if theordered products are available, and if so, scanning the barcodes of theordered products, creating a packing slip, a delivery label and an ASNimmediately prior to shipment of the products. The ASN message is sentto the customer as confirmation that the goods have been shipped, andconfirmation of the contents of the shipment. The scan-packing techniqueensures customer order integrity and accountability since the techniquecreates the bar code packing slip, delivery label as well as the ASNmessage.

At the time of actual shipment (e.g., UPS, Federal Express), thesupplier may forward the ASN message to customer computer 102 throughelectronic gateway 120. Similarly to the customer order in step 402,electronic gateway 120 may transform the electronic message in a formatselected by supplier 104 (e.g., e-mail, HTTP request). Electronicgateway 120 translates the ASN to a format understandable by thecustomer, logs the ASN, and delivers the ASN to customer computer 102.

Once customer computer 102 receives the ASN message, the customer mayconfirm that the contents of the ASN are identical to the order. And ifso, the customer may use customer computer 102 to transmit a paymentinstruction to settlement software 312 located at settlement bank server106 (step 406). The customer may use electronic gateway 120, or anyother communication means, such as facsimile, to instruct bank server106 to pay the supplier. The payment instruction may include supplierdetails (e.g., name, address, bank account number), amount of purchase,discounted amount, and the like. If the customer transmits the paymentinstruction using electronic gateway 120, electronic gateway 120 maytranslate the payment instruction into a format understandable bysettlement bank server 106, and deliver the instruction to bankinginterface 314 in bank server 106. For example, if the customer transmitsa payment instruction as an e-mail, and settlement bank server 106requires an Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) format, electronic gateway120 may translate the payment instruction to an EDI format beforeforwarding the message to banking interface 314. The customer maytransmit the payment instruction regardless of whether or not the actualproducts have been received. Alternatively, the customer may transmit apayment instruction once the products have been received and/orscan-packed by the customer, or after some other prearranged event, suchas issuance of a delivery tracking number by a shipping company.

Regardless of the method used to transmit the payment instruction tosettlement bank server 106, once received, settlement software 312processes the payment instruction (step 408). That is, settlementsoftware 312 first determines the amount to discount the payment andtransfers cleared funds (e.g., customer loan, direct deposit) to thesupplier's deposit account located at supplier bank 110. Settlementsoftware 312 may determine the amount to discount from the paymentinstruction received from the customer. To deposit the funds withsupplier bank 110, settlement software 312 may use banking interface 314to wire transfer, prepare a check, or use any other well-known bankingnetwork, such as the EDI banking network. In addition, settlementsoftware 312 may issue a remittance advice (e.g., electronic message,facsimile, e-mail) to the supplier by transmitting a notification thoughelectronic gateway 120 to accounting software 262 (though a userinterface). If the supplier can not accept an automated remittance,settlement bank 106 may forward the remittance notice in another format,such as facsimile, or mail.

As mentioned before, the discounted payment is prearranged and may bedifferent for each customer and supplier based on a negotiated contract.For example, a supplier may offer a large customer a higher discount, ora supplier may offer a customer that pays within a shorter period oftime (e.g., 24 hours of receiving the ASN) a higher discount. Settlementbank server 106 may obtain cleared funds from the customer by providinga loan, or direct withdrawal from the customer's bank account atcustomer bank 108. One skilled in the art will appreciate that otheraccounting-exercises between a customer and a supplier may exist, suchas the customer and the supplier negotiating a price based on animmediate payment from the customer to the supplier, such that thepayment includes a discount. In this case, settlement bank 106 may paythe supplier a full amount without any deduction.

After a credit period measured from the time at which settlementsoftware 312 transfers the discounted funds to supplier bank 110 (e.g.,one month), settlement software 312 debits the customer's account atcustomer bank 108 an amount equivalent to the face value of the paymentbefore any discount (step 410). One skilled in the art will appreciatethat other accounting exercises between settlement bank 106 and thecustomer may exist, such as debiting the amount equivalent to thediscounted amount plus any additional bank fees (e.g., wire transfer,handling fees).

For example, if settlement software 312 directly debits the customer'sbank account the full amount, a bank or an intermediary softwaredeveloper may be entitled to a “facility fee” (described below), and/ora bank fee to process any supplier payment. In addition, if settlementbank 106 provides a loan to the customer, settlement bank 106 may alsobe entitled to an interest fee for the time the bank's funds areoutstanding.

Finally, settlement bank 106 periodically (e.g., month, quarterly)rebates to the customer the amount of the discount deducted from thesupplier account, less the settlement bank interest on funds for thetime outstanding, plus any applicable fees (step 412).

Facility Fee

Electronic gateway 120 may contain added functionality. That is, asoftware supplier of business to business e-commerce solutions may addvarious software to electronic gateway 120, such as additional security,additional auditing and/or database functionality, or any other softwareto enhance financial settlements. The software supplier may request anelectronic gateway 120 owner to include a facility fee for each orderthat uses the suppliers software in electronic gateway 120. The softwaresupplier may license the software to the owners of electronic gateway120, and in return for the use of the software, electronic gateway 120may pay a license fee based on a revenue share agreement, or a setpercentage based on dollars transacted.

This licensing agreement would therefore enable the software suppliersto charge a facility fee for their software.

CONCLUSION

As explained, systems consistent with the present invention overcome theshortcomings of existing trading systems by providing incentives forcustomers to pay suppliers within a shortened settlement period. Thecustomer pays a reduced price and the supplier receives payment morequickly reducing the cost of financing its sales.

Although aspects of the present invention are described as being storedin memory, one skilled in the art will appreciate that these aspects maybe stored on or read from other computer readable media, such assecondary storage devices, like hard disks, floppy disks, and CD-ROM; acarrier wave received from a network, such as the Internet; or otherforms of ROM or RAM. Additionally, although specific components andprograms of computers 102, 104 and various bank servers have beendescribed, one skilled in the art will appreciate that these may containadditional or different components or programs.

The foregoing description of an implementation of the invention has beenpresented for purposes of illustration and description. It is notexhaustive and does not limit the invention to the precise formdisclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of theabove teachings or may be acquired from practicing of the invention. Forexample, other discounts, and/or incentives for the customer may apply.Moreover the described implementation includes software but the presentinvention may be implemented as a combination of hardware and softwareor in hardware alone. The invention may be implemented with bothobject-oriented and non-object-oriented programming systems.

I claim:
 1. A computer implemented method, the method comprising:receiving, on an authorization date and by a banking computer system, anelectronic authorization, the electronic authorization relating to aninvoice between a bank customer and a supplier, the authorizationauthorizing payment for an electronic invoice with an invoice amount,the electronic invoice having an electronic invoice due date, theelectronic invoice due date being after the authorization date; based onthe electronic authorization, the bank electronically transferring tothe supplier account, on an earlier payment date, the earlier paymentdate being before the invoice due date, a discounted payment forsettlement of the invoice, the discounted payment amount discounted fromthe invoice amount based at least on: a fiscal attribute of thecustomer; and a credit period, the credit period being an amount of timebetween the early payment date and the invoice due date; and after thecredit period, electronically debiting at least the discounted paymentamount from an account associated with the customer.